House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (Wyo.) said on Sunday that the allegations against one of her harshest critics, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), are “sickening” but refused to say whether he should resign.
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked Cheney if she would call for Gaetz’s resignation.
“You know, as the mother of daughters, the charges certainly are sickening. And as the Speaker [Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)] noted, there’s an ethics investigation underway. There are also criminal investigations underway, and I’m not gonna comment further on that publicly right now,” Cheney said.
Cheney also refused to say if she was surprised by the allegations.
The Department of Justice has opened a probe into allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor and violated sex trafficking laws. It was reported last week that Gaetz had sent $900 through the Venmo app to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, who in turn sent the same amount of money to three young women, categorizing the payments for “Tuition” or “School.”
It was announced last week that the House Ethics Committee had opened an investigation into Gaetz regarding allegations of illegal drug use and sharing with colleagues on the House floor nude photos of young women.
Gaetz has denied having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old amid reports of the Justice Department investigation.
He told a crowd in Florida on Friday that he would not be intimidated by allegations against him, vowing the “truth will prevail.”
“I have not yet begun to fight,” he said at a speech at the Save America Summit.
Gaetz, an ardent ally of former President Trump, led the call for Cheney to be removed from Republican leadership after she was one of the 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching Trump for his alleged role in inciting the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Prior to Cheney’s interview, Pelosi said that it was “up to the Republicans to take responsibility for that” when asked if Gaetz should resign from Congress.